The Palestinian government and its American counterparts announced today, Sunday, the organization of the American-Palestinian Economic Dialogue (USPED) in the city of Ramallah, to discuss the current and future areas of economic cooperation.
The Palestinian-American dialouug scheduled to be held on Monday is the fourth organized by the two sides since 2004, and the second to be held under the current US administration, nearly five and a half years after the third dialogue was held in May 2016.
The joint dialogue comes in light of US President Joe Biden´s position and commitment to achieving the two-state solution, including the existence of an independent, sovereign, and geographically connected State of Palestine with freedom, security and prosperity for all.
According to the joint statement, the dialogue sessions will be chaired on the Palestinian side by Minister of National Economy Khaled Essaili, and on the American side, the First Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Office of Economic and Trade Affairs Whitney Bird, in the presence of a wide range of agencies and ministries from the Palestinian and American governments.
Palestinian and American officials will discuss a number of issues that will improve the Palestinian economy, increase the dynamism of the productive sectors, especially trade, industry, renewable energy, and financial issues. The two parties will also review the implementation of what was agreed upon in the previous dialogue.
Economy Minister Khaled Al-Osaili considered the dialogue to be held at this important and strategic time in developing cooperation relations between the two countries, and setting appropriate mechanisms for developing the Palestinian economy in various fields.
It is noteworthy that the volume of trade exchange between Palestine and the United States is estimated at $100 million.
In April 2021, the United States resumed aid to the Palestinians, and to date, the Biden administration provides more than $890 million in aid to the Palestinian people, including humanitarian aid and through UNRWA support.
